Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Julianne's 2nd Birthday Party

Two-years-old!

Julianne is two years old! At two years old she is walking, eating, dancing and imitating everything she can! She loves to play with balls, open "rader" (refrigerator), help Grammie make coffee, read books, play with her train, take the dogs outside and "walk 'round!" Julianne weighs just over 27 pounds and I don't know how tall she is (oops!). She tells us when she needs her diaper changed, when she wants to eat, when she needs a drink and when she's ready to go somewhere! She makes up her own songs and sings songs she already knows. She is eating stage 2 and 3 baby foods and beginning to munch on on "Veggie Straws." Julianne knows many colors, most of the alphabet, and is beginning to count objects (not very many objects, just counting 2 or 3 objects). She goes to bed around 8:00 - 9:00, wakes up between 7:00-7:30 and usually takes a 2-ish hour nap. Today she has a virus but is quickly getting better. Not the flu, (tested yesterday) just a virus. :)

Julianne's 2nd birthday has come and gone. I was almost dreading it because I thought I'd feel sad that she's not a one-year-old anymore. I was a little sad, but was filled with joy more than anything else. It seems like every birthday should be the biggest celebration ever when I think about how each DAY with Julianne is a miracle. I recently read the following on the Jack of Hearts Foundation website:
"Of 98 children with HLHS studied from 1971-1986, only one child survived and 97 died. 15 died on the first day of life, 70 died within the first week, and 91 died within 30 days of birth. Cynthia Morris, Jacquelyn Outcalt and Victor D. Menashe Pediatrics 1990 859:977-983"

Had she been born a little more than one generation earlier, she would have very likely not made it. We are so very, very thankful that God has given surgeons, doctors and nurses the wisdom and knowledge to give our little baby boo and so many others a chance at life. God has given us another year to love our baby girl here on earth and we cannot even express how grateful we are! We truly believe that God has given us a miracle.

Now, about the birthday party. Julianne has a couple of favorite things: Books and Balls. So, we decided to give her a birthday themed with one of her favorites and we chose balls! We had a little ball party on Saturday with Julianne and both of our families. We filled an inflatable pool with balls, played a ball toss game, attempted to make a ball-shaped cake and had ball shaped snacks, favors and decorations. I knew I would really enjoy planning my kids' parties one day, but I had no idea I'd LOVE IT!!

Julianne did ok for the party. She really enjoyed the ball pit. She liked the ball toss game when it was her turn, but got a little freaked out over all of the excitement during others' turns and ended up having to go outside with daddy while everyone finished playing. Julianne DID manage to hold back the tears during the WHOLE birthday song this year. She cried right after though. She did not eat any cake, but ate a good bit of ice cream. That was an awesome feeling to see our little girl, who so recently wouldn't eat anything, eating ice cream at her birthday party. She then opened her sweet gifts with the help of her daddy. Once again we went WAY-HAY-HAY overboard with the pictures and took more than 200 that day. The poor kid probably went to sleep still seeing flashes in her eyes.


It was a special day and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

5 comments:

Leah B. said...

Jessica!!!! This was so precious and Julianne is too! You are so creative... I loved the video! I'd like to catch up on your whole blog sometime. Love ya, girl!

Anonymous said...

Once again thanks for sharing Julianne with us. She is beautiful!!! I am always reminded how great our God is when I see her! Love In Christ, Adelaide
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIANNE!

Anonymous said...

I had such a great time at Julianne's 2nd Birthday!! She just gets prettier by the minute.

Jessica I know not so long ago you were worried that she would have to eat her wedding cake through a feeding tube but I think she will be ok. If nothing else she can have an ice cream cake:)

She never ceases to amaze me with all the things she is doing now. She is a miracle child and I thank God that he has Blessed us all with this precious girl and given her parents the strength to do all that they have to do to keep her healthy.

Love to all,
Aunt\Great Aunt Suzette

jan tompkins said...

Cute, cute video and an eve cuter baby girl! Happy Birthday, Julianne!
You surely are a blessing to your family. Thanks for letting us share
your journey.

Anonymous said...

She looked just adorable!!!

Luv

A. Stac